Miko Yakusho
Miko Yakusho (やくしょ ミコ, Yakusho Miko) is a villager of Kusagakure and younger sister to Kazō. Although she is not a ninja, she has learned how to manipulate wood like her brother. She eventually joins her parents as members of the Yakusho clan that her brother forms. Background Miko Yakusho was born to Kōza and Isane Yakusho. Her birth occurred a few months after her brother Kazō lost his arm. As such, she has never seen him without a prosthetic. It wasn’t until she was a bit older that she understood his injury. During her first few years, Miko’s presence had, in a way, helped Kazō cope with his loss. When she was around, Kazō couldn’t seem to dwell on the problems his loss had caused. Miko was also the reason Kazō decided to return to the Academy. After he had almost dropped her the first time tried to hold her, Kazō realized he needed to get better at adapting with only one arm. Her infantile innocence continued to cheer him up as he struggled through training, and even when he began working on his chakra flow. After Kazō became a genin, he and Miko began acting like most siblings do. Miko was now old enough to talk back to Kazō, making fun of him and running to their mother when he tried to retaliate. Their mother would always side with Miko since she was the baby. She even gave Miko permission to punish Kazō if he used foul language in front of her. She would usually accomplish this by yanking Kazō’s ears. When Kazō’s teammates came over, Miko would continue to harass him. Oda and Avaki found it funny, and Avaki would even defend Miko when Kazō tried to get even. Even through the bickering, Miko loved her big brother. He would always carry her on his back when they went into town. When he picked up carving, he would make figurines for her. When she got scared or hurt, he would cheer her up, regardless if they had been arguing earlier. Personality Still a child, Miko shows signs of immaturity. This is mostly seen when she’s with her brother. She can be a bit spoiled and pouts if she doesn’t get her way. She tends to be very shy around strangers, shown when she hid when Avaki first visited their house. She also scares easily, though this may be due to her young age. Since she knows her brother will protect her, she goes to him in most situations. This is shown when she hides behind Kazō instead of meeting other kids who were playing; and when she clung to him the first time she saw Oda, saying he looked scary. Miko has shown a braver, and sometimes rebellious, side after the time skip. To allow her friends to get away, she stands up to some bandits on the outskirts of the village before Oda shows up. She proves a challenge for Kazō when she reveals she can manipulate wood like him, and wants him to teach her more. It is shown that she has a great pride for her brother’s skills and wants to be strong like him, even if he refuses to let her for her own safety. She works hard in the hopes that he will see her like she sees him. When traveling with Kazō’s team and Team Ginta while they handled a minor mission, she stayed brave even when a chakra powered suit of armor found her hiding and mortally wounded her. After being miraculously revived, Kazō told her how proud he was of her for staying brave. Happy that he finally praised her, and finally understanding the dangers she can face, she decided to stop trying to act like a ninja. Years later, Miko has continued to be content with her regular villager life. When Kazō's son Shinji is born, Miko often visits to play with him. He would follow her around the house on special "missions" like exploring a closet or finding a hidden toy. She is quite fond of him, and has taken on an older sister role with him, just as her brother had with her. Appearance Miko has dark brown eyes and matching hair, just like her mother. As a baby, Miko was dressed in a light green, one-piece outfit. During Part I, her outfit consisted of a dark red tee shirt with a dark green Kusa symbol on the front and navy shorts. She also began wearing her hair in two ponytails. Her Part II attire is a turquoise shirt with matching shorts. She has a yellow sash running diagonally from her left shoulder to under her right arm. Her shirt is cut off on the right side, above the sash, revealing a black undershirt. There is also a yellow sash around her waist and one cuffing her left sleeve. The sashes are sewn into her outer shirt. She now keeps her hair tied with wooden rings given to her by Kazō. When learning wood manipulation, Kazō gave her a wooden hanbō to manipulate. She would carry this tied to her back when she snuck out to train. Two years after the Fourth Shinobi World War, around the time of events in The Last: Naruto the Movie, Miko has grown a bit. Her two ponytails now hang down behind her and reach her shoulders, held near the ends with wooden rings. She has also started growing out her bangs, and has them parted to the right. Her attire consists of a turquoise, sleeveless kimono with a yellow obi. She wears a black, long-sleeve shirt with matching shorts underneath. Years later, Miko has matured into a young woman. Her ponytails hang down to the middle of her back and are still held with wooden rings near the end. Her bangs have grown out more, and are mostly parted to the right. She now wears a simple, long-sleeve black shirt. Abilities Wood Manipulation Miko was never trained to be a ninja. Growing up, she learned about chakra from her brother. Soon after, she began attempting to tap into her own. It wasn’t until after the time skip that she finally figured out how to gather her chakra. From there, she tried wood manipulation. As explained by Oda, Miko grew up with Kazō having the ability to manipulate wood. At such a young age, she saw it as a trait she would have too, since they were siblings. After hearing Kazō explain the basics of it to her when she asked how he did it, Miko had truly believed the technique was innate for her. This mindset made Miko able to learn the technique; and at a faster rate than Kazō, who had to start from scratch without knowing if it would work at all. Since Miko is new to using chakra, she has very little to tap into. She also lacks the physical stamina most ninja gain while training at the Academy. This combination gives her even less to work with than her brother. Although Kazō refuses to train her outright, she has convinced him to teach her some skills in order to protect herself when he’s not around. To compensate for the little chakra she has, Kazō has taught her how to change the way the wood cells bind to each other. This results in her making a less dense wooden shield that still holds up to attacks. After a falling out they had, Kazō finally agreed to help her with an offensive attack. It is a collaboration technique with him in which Miko fires long, thin needles of wood into the air from her hanbō while Kazō sends thick, root-like tendrils underground. Miko’s attack rains down around them and Kazō’s erupts from beneath them. The attack is known as Wood Manipulation: Heaven and Earth Barrage. Part I Master's Training Arc Miko is shown greeting Kazō when he comes home from the Chūnin Exams. Over the next few days, he tells her some of the things he saw during his month in Konoha. She then saw him off when he left for his next training assignment. Kusa's Unofficial Team Arc Miko is seen in a flashback when Avaki and Oda come over to visit Kazō. When Avaki heads up to Kazō’s room, Miko quickly hides in her room. As he passes her door, she peeks out to watch this new stranger. She sneaks over to her brother’s door and finds that Oda was also there. Seeing her, Kazō calls her in. She runs over to him and jumps into his arms. He introduces her to the two, but she turns away from Oda, whispering that he looked scary. Kazō scolded her and said the two were his new teammates and would be visiting often. As the days go by, Miko sees Avaki and Oda more and more. She often pestered her brother when they were there and Avaki even sided with her when Kazō tried to retaliate. On one occasion, Kazō and Oda told her that every time she annoyed her brother, a monster would grow in her closet. Later that night, she is seen trying to ignore her closet. She runs to her brother's room and calls out to him from the doorway. She asks if there really was a monster in her closet, to which he said it was just a joke. When she still seemed unsure, he called her over and let her sleep in his bed for the night. The next morning, Kazō returns to his room from morning training to find Miko just waking up. He tells her that he just saw a monster in her room, but had kicked out the window and it ran away to Oda's house. Miko seemed pleased with the outcome. In the present, Miko can be seen at Avaki’s funeral with her parents. Part II Growth Arc Race to the Artifact Arc Miko is seen one day running into her brother’s room. She tries to wake him up, needing to climb up and bounce on him to do it. She tells him that a scary looking ninja is at the door and their parents were out of the house. After mentioning the man had a mask, Kazō jumps out of bed and collects his ninja equipment before running to the door. Outside was an ANBU member. Calling out through the door, a man asks if they can come inside. Kazō refused. He was still against the ANBU after his previous encounter, even if these ones were from his own village. He handed Miko one of his wooden chakra bombs and told her to throw it if one of the men came around the back of the house.Kazō continues to refuse the men entry and they finally agree to just pass a scroll through and leave. Miko watches the events; confused as to why the strange men were there and why Kazō was so tense about them. Kusa History Arc In a flashback, Miko is seen as a toddler. When Kasumi first visits Kazō with his friends, she spots Miko and begins fawning over her. When Kazō begins trying to flow chakra into his prosthetic, his mother puts Miko in his room. She crawls over to his bed and looks up at him. He scoops her up and sits her on his stomach. Holding his prosthetic in front of him, he asks her if all his efforts are worth it. Seeing the arm, she leans forward and tries to bite the wood. He laughs, saying if she won’t take any crap from it then neither would he. While he rested from using up his chakra, she slept on top of him. Trap and Capture Squad Arc Miko is seen with her brother, relaxing in a meadow of tall grass. While Kazō dozed, Miko watched the clouds through the blades of grass. After a bit, her brother stirred. She asked what was wrong and he called out to someone, saying they must have tortured Kentaro to learn the location of their secret spot and to repent to show they weren’t a monster. Seishi then appeared in the clearing and stomped on Kazō’s stomach. As Kazō moved deeper into the grass to put his ANBU attire on, Miko complained that they now needed to find a new secret spot. She also asked why Seishi hurt Kentaro, saying he was nice, and agreed with the monster part. Kazō returned and gave Miko his other clothes. She said she was going to look for a new secret spot as he left. Team Oda Arc One day, when Kazō wasn’t training, Miko finds him and excitedly leads him to a tree. He watches as she focuses herself and performs the hand seals for his wood manipulation. Amused, he waits to see what she’d do. Normally he would manipulate things for her while she pretended to do it herself. A moment later, a tiny tendril of wood began growing from the tree. He stared in shock as his little sister, who wasn’t even a ninja, used a jutsu that had taken him years to achieve. Kusa's Prodigy Arc At the Yakusho residence, Miko is told to call her brother down for breakfast. Before she can, she hears him curse and knock something over. Startled, she waits and sees him rush down the stairs in ANBU attire. She recognizes it as the same attire as the men who visited their home once before, and remembered seeing him wear it a few times before this. She heard her mother ask about the unusual attire, but her father said to not worry about it. Little Ninja Arc Kazō is seen with Miko, explaining how to conserve what little chakra she has acquired. His main goal is showing her how to form a shield without using too much chakra. He carved a hanbō for her to manipulate when trees weren’t around. Although she asks about attacks, he refuses to show her any since she is so young and not even a ninja. In a flashback, Takato tells Kazō, Oda, and Avaki that they will be traveling to the Land of Frost for a minor mission. When Kazō goes home, he tells Miko where he will be going. When she asks what it’s like there, he says there will be snow everywhere. This makes her jealous, and she begins to pout until their mother comes in. Miko asks if her mom will take her somewhere where there’s snow, but is turned down. Their mother leaves the room as Miko starts to throw a tantrum. Kazō goes to his mother and asks if he can take Miko with him. He says their mission is minor and that his sensei will be there. She eventually gives in. Kazō returns to where his sister is pouting, scoops her up, and says she is being punished. She begins to fuss, but he continues. Her punishment, he says, is to be sent to a far off location where no one is around and she will be kept in a prison of snow. Hearing this, she became excited. Team Takato and Miko reach Shimogakure where their mission will take place. Takato tells them it is more of a diplomatic mission, in that they will be keeping up their friendly relations with the Frost ninja. After spending some time with various people, a few women volunteer to take Miko outside to play. Team Takato continues as the day goes on and Miko eventually returns. Kazō excuses himself from the group and checks up on her, warming her cheeks in his hand. When they finally leave, Kazō carries a worn out Miko back home. In the present, Kazō continues to teach Miko some wood manipulation. A few days later, Miko arrives with Kasumi and Oda to find Kazō filling some of his chakra bombs with chakra. She asks what he’s doing and he quickly buries the bombs under a slab of wood; telling her not to worry about it. He walks away to talk to Oda and Kasumi while Miko tries to see what he hid. When he returns, he sees her getting into the spot. He pushes her aside as she accidently triggers some of the bombs, bringing them under control. He scolds her for disobeying him and she argues with him. She says she just wants to learn more, but he still refuses. She asks him to stop treating her like a kid. He tells her she needs to do what she is told. She asks why and he says it’s because he’s her older brother. She continues to argue, saying that it didn’t mean she had to listen to him. In anger, he slapped her across the face. Instantly he realized his error, but could only stand in shock as she ran off, screaming that she hated him. Kasumi chased after her and found her curled up under a large mushroom. She crawled under and began to comfort her. She explained that Kazō was only looking out for her safety. She asked if Miko remembered Avaki; saying that, although she didn’t know the details, she knew Kazō had blamed himself for not being able to protect him. Kasumi returned with Miko who ran over to Kazō and hugged him. She apologized for acting up and he apologized for being too strict with her. Later she is seen learning an offensive attack, being told to only use it when he’s around. Miko is next seen with her brother’s team and Team Ginta as they walk to a small, nearby village. She joins them since it is just a D-rank. Technically Kazō’s team didn’t even need to go, but it made for a nice trip. While Team Ginta handled the mission, Miko would be able to travel and see how a ninja works, firsthand. They first visit a shrine near the village entrance. Inside, a few people seem to be praying. The group speaks to a woman who explains the purpose of the shrine. On one wall, an image is shown that represents the spirit of the shrine. A large bell hung next to the picture with a long rope attached to the clapper. People would come to the shrine to pray for things they were trying to find. When they found what they were looking for, they would ring the bell. Fascinated, Miko reached up to try it, but Kazō quickly pulled her away, giving her a stern look. After more exploring of the village, they hear a tale of a man who lived long ago. Instead of dying, his spirit took shelter in the land. The tale stated that the spirit gained special abilities by becoming one with nature. After meeting those who hired them, they learned that a group of bandits had been causing some trouble the day before. Since they were already there, they agreed to take a look into it when their mission was done. Kazō made sure Miko remained at his side as they walked around the village. They soon found the bandits outside of the village, and swiftly took care of them. Kazō even let Miko hit one of them on the head with her hanbō after he snuck up on him. Before heading back, Kasumi sensed a larger chakra signature. A suit of armor appeared, without a person inside, and seemed to lock on to their position. Kazō took Miko away and told her to go hide somewhere. After keeping hidden for a while, Miko saw the armor heading in her direction. Although she tried to stay concealed, the armor locked onto her presence and attacked. Kazō and the others returned to Miko after the armor fled from them. On the way, they had found the supposed spirit that lived in the land. Seeing Miko, Kazō ran over to her side. She didn’t have any visible wounds, but complained of severe pains. Kazō tried to comfort her as he carried her back to the small village. Unfortunately, before he could make it, the pain became too much and Miko died in his arms. Rain had begun to fall, and the group took shelter in a small cavern nearby. Kasumi held Miko and waited near the entrance with Inari as Kazō tried to come to terms with what happened further in. After a time, the suit of armor returned. The group surrounded it and began attacking, but it was ineffective. Seeing Kazō sitting off to the side, vulnerable, the armor locked on to him and attacked. Gripping his head, multiple weapons appeared from inside of it, ready to finish him. Reaching up, Kazō gently stuck his prosthetic inside the armor, holding an explosive tag he stole from Inari’s pouch. It detonated, destroying the armor from within. When the smoke cleared, Kazō was still there. He had made a wooden shield to take most of the blast. Kasumi and Oda ran over to him and Oda scolded him for almost killing himself. Kazō said he was trying to, but was too scared to go through with it. After Kasumi cleaned him up, he asked her if she could take Miko because he didn’t think he could face his parents. Upon leaving the cavern, the earth spirit popped up from the ground. They were told that one of the spirit’s abilities would allow it to bring Miko back by sacrificing someone else. Kazō immediately volunteered to do it, but Kinsei stopped him, asking how Miko would handle not having her only brother. Realizing he couldn’t do that to her, he became distraught once again. A moment later, the spirit began trembling and collapsed. Kazō jumped up, pleading it to not to grant the wish. The pile of rocks remained still and Kazō waited. Nothing happened to him, but Kasumi gave a startled cry. Kazō ran over to see Miko waking up. As he sat with her, Kinsei looked at one of the stones. The kanji for ‘’will” appeared on it and the spirit’s voice said it had used to be human, so that meant it still had some freewill left to sacrifice itself. With Kazō crying over her, Miko asked if she had messed up. Surprised at her question, he said no, and that he was proud of her for being brave. Kazō carried Miko back to the village. As the others reported on the bandits, he walked her around. They came to the shrine near the entrance and went inside. Kazō looked at the shrine spirit in a daze, snapping out of it when Miko lightly rang the bell. Looking up at it, he took her hand in his and gave the bell a strong ring. As they walked out, Miko waved to an old woman kneeling in prayer. When they finally returned to the Grass Village late that night, Kazō took Miko into the forest, saying they’d go home in the morning. Miko said she didn’t want to try and be a ninja anymore. Relieved, Kazō said he wouldn’t let her even if she did. She asked if he would tell their parents what happened. He said they were both alive and well so their parents didn’t need to know. They slept in each others’ arms until morning. Cost of Knowledge Arc Return Home Arc Miko is seen hearing the news that Avaki is actually alive. Kusa Invasion Arc When ninja from Takigakure invaded the village, Miko got separated from her parents in the confusion. She began following the side streets to avoid anyone while searching for her family or someone else she knew. Reaching an open part of the village, Miko was spotted by some enemy ninja. Before they could attack, Kazō found her. He told Miko to keep her head down, and he quickly dispatched the enemy with wooden tendrils. After a few minutes, Miko noticed blood landing near her head, and she looked up to see Kazō standing in between her and a summoned creature with an ax. The ax had cut into his right shoulder and only his manipulated wood prevented it from cutting deeper. Seeing her brother hurt had scared her, and she called out to him. Seeing her worry, Kazō began speaking calmly to her. He said they were going to play hide and seek, and told her to go hide. She began crying, saying he was hurt, but he continued, saying how good of a hider she was. He began to slowly count as she begged him to stop. When he kept counting, she finally got up and ran off into the forest. Miko fled through the forest and found a spot she had always hid in when they played in the past. She waited, and eventually heard her brother talking to someone. He began telling them that he had no family. He said that he was found as a baby, in a nearby meadow. His story continued enough to let Miko know of the villagers hidden in the nearby meadow. She made a bird call that he had once taught her, showing she understood the message, and ran for the meadow. When she arrived, she didn’t see anyone there. Just then, Kasumi and Oda appeared out of thin air and pulled her into the genjutsu surrounding the evacuation point. She was taken to her family and told them that Kazō was hurt. Hearing this, Oda called to his genin subordinates and ran back to help. The genin return with Kazō, and Miko is told to wait while medical ninja heal him. When the worst of his injuries were taken care of, Miko ran to his side saying she thought he was dead. He gave her a hug, saying he had thought so too. Miko remained with her family until the enemy was stopped. Separate Paths Arc Blank Period New Era Trivia *Miko’s hobby is spending time with her brother Kazō. *Miko’s favorite food is dango. His least favorite is grilled fish. Quotes (To Kazō) “''Wha- no… I don’t want to sleep outside, I want to sleep in my bed… then I don’t want to be a kitty anymore.” (To Kazō) “''Big brother?… are you sure there’s nothing in my closet?… Promise?” (To Seishi) “''Aw… this was our secret spot. Now we have to find a new one. Brother's right… you're mean.” (To Kazō) “''No you’re not! You’re the best brother in the whole world and I love you!” (To Shinji during a "mission") "Hey! Ninjas aren't supposed to take juice breaks!" Reference *Miko Yakusho is an OC created by KusaNin. *Images for Miko's part I and II appearances used pictures of Academy Moegi and Momiji respectively to get body proportions and general pose. The Last image used The Last Hanabi and the epilogue used The Last Temari. Category:DRAFT